Rachel

Family Portraits

~ randyaa ~ 8 Comments

Being the photographer of the family I’m rarely in the photos.  Someone needs to make a suggestion to get me into a photo before I’m in front of the lens or nobody knows I was ever there.  I don’t mind it but we’ve realized recently that we don’t really have enough pictures of us together so starting this month we’re going to make it a point to get at least one family photo a month.  It doesn’t have to be spectacular, just us.  Here’s our first attempt:

IMG_7787

Lilah has her typical “everything is amazing and surprising” look on her face, but not bad for a self-timed job with a 9-mo-old.

Playtime

~ randyaa ~ 3 Comments

Zemanta Related Posts ThumbnailOur recent trip(s) and membership to Strong reminded me of the first time Delilah interactively played with us. It was a very memorable experience.

A few months ago we were all out to dinner together at The Olive Garden and Delilah was in a different high chair for the first time. It was almost too big so we stuffed a blanket and some other stuff behind her to give her some support.

After the waitress brought us drinks there was a coaster left on the table just inside Delilah’s reach. Once she realized this she quickly flung it towards the edge of the table. With cat like reflexes I stopped it from toppling to the floor with a single finger and slide it back to where it was. Her shocked look said to me: “Whoa! What was that!?”. She then tried again, and I stopped it again. This repeated for about 5 minutes until our food showed up and she was smiling and laughing almost hysterically.

Little games like these are every day occurrences now and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Taking her to Strong is a riot and she’s really noticing and playing with everything now.

Camp in the Winter

~ randyaa ~ 1 Comment

Zemanta Related Posts ThumbnailThere’s nothing more welcoming than a warm and cozy cabin at 21 below in the mountains.

We’ve only made it to camp once this winter so far for a few reasons but the weekend we spent there was a beautiful (cold) one. The second night the moon was shining so bright it was casting daylight like shadows. The next morning we woke up to -21° which was easily explained by the clear skies and bright moon.

Even in the brisk -21° degrees and the middle of 4ft of snow, the camp always offers a nice warm zone of comfort, and sights like these are some of the top reasons I love being in the mountains in the winter.

Keeping Up

~ randyaa ~ 2 Comments

IMG_7574These Days she’s growing so fast it’s hard to keep up. She’s now pulling herself up, (assisted) walking, babbling (non stop), laughing up a storm, teething, high-fiving, smiling (all the freaking time), wearing pigtails and she even had her first real fever the other day (101.8°F). Pulled out of it without a scratch in 2 days though. She’s a trooper. Coming home is so much fun now because as soon as she sees you she smiles like crazy and wants you to pick her up right away just to be close.

Favorite thing in the world right now? Comforting Baby-Hugs. She’s been doing it for a long time but it doesn’t make it any less special. If she wakes up or wont go to sleep for a while and she’s crying & you walk in and pick her up she gives you the biggest bear-hug and calms right down. Gotta say, it’s awesome.

She’s only 8 months old and I have NO IDEA what’s next, but that’s the best part. I can’t wait.

Our First Christmas Tree Timelapse

~ randyaa ~ 10 Comments

We might have a new tradition.

While we decorated the tree this past Monday I setup the camera and had it take a shot every 5 seconds. Threw it together in a timelapse video and it didn’t come out half bad.  My favorite parts are the few times you can see the little monster jumping up and down, spinning and grinning.

Next years will be even more fun.

Roselawn Kitchen

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The few weeks after we brought our daughter home from the hospital and moved into our new house we put the final touches on the kitchen in 1/2 of the duplex we own.  Basically, we finished what had been an extremely long project just in time for our new Tenants to move in.  The transformation was pretty dramatic, but unfortunately we have no before shots just a halfway started shot, some in progress shots and the finals.  Anyway, take a look:

Not bad for our first kitchen.

Delilah 0-6 Months

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Friday was Delilah’s 6 month birthday.  Man oh Man.  The past 6 months have been a blur.  Delilah’s had lots of milestones, smiles, babbling, standing, grabbing, sitting & just recently, rolling over.  Looking back through these pictures made me smile so many times…

NOTE: If you cannot see the slideshow above please view the original post.

The next 6 months will be just as exciting with even more milestones, but will probably fly by even faster.

Hope we can keep up.

A (Long) Weekend of Adventure

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Zemanta Related Posts ThumbnailJust got done with an awesome 4 day weekend.  All the best parts included our daughter Delilah, with the exception of the ball.

  • Delilah discovered her feet
  • Play date with Landon
  • RIT Alumni President’s Ball with Matt and Calin
  • Drunken Pumpkin
  • Some Hiking
  • A few family Geocaches
  • Letchworth State Park
  • Lots of play time with the little one

Love being able to relax and just spend some quality time with the family for once.  Had a blast all weekend long and even spent a night out with just Rachel, which is I think is important for us to do now and then.

A New Camp On it's Way

~ randyaa ~ 6 Comments

IMG_0311Some people thought we were crazy to do it but we just got back from a week at my parent’s Adirondack escape (ending last Sunday 7/11/2010).� This was Delilah’s first trip to the Adirondacks and it was a hot one.� She did great, slept a lot (it was in the 90’s with no A/C, ugh!) and smiled at her daddy a ton.

Last year we built a shed (Mostly my father, I helped a little).� This year we’re putting on an addition to the camp.� More like a new camp really… We’re taking the camp from the tiny studio-sized 336 square feet up to 960 by adding 2 bedrooms and a bigger living space.� The current camp is going to become a ‘dining’ area, kitchen and bathroom.� We’re well on our way.

IMG_0044Last week when we got to camp Dad was already all the way up to laying the floor.� It might not sound like much, but there’s a ton involved to get to that point.� Squaring everything up, leveling (& digging) the ground, insulation, wire netting, studding, joists & beams… Not simple work.� He’d been working for over a month just about steady to get to that point.� These things take time, especially when you’re by yourself in the mountains and you’re fighting the rain nonstop.

By the time we left Sunday afternoon (7 days later) we had raised all 3 of the walls (complete with OSB Board covering), All rafters were in place (save the ones that need to be placed over the existing roof) and all Zip System Roof Panels were in place and taped (as far as could be done until the remaining rafters are positioned).

IMG_0113Not bad for 5 days worth of work for 2 guys in 90+�F heat and 2 days with a bunch of help from other family.� Thanks Jerry, Scott, Donald, Wes, Pauline, Virginia, Gage & Mindy Lee!� Still lots to do, but we’re getting pretty darn close to weather-sealed.� We’re only a few steps away:

  • complete & install 1 remaining rafter
  • install Zip System Roof Panels over remaining area
  • shingles
  • small 4ft section of Wall & OSB board panels to go up adjoining existing deck
  • install a few missing OSB Board panels on the walls (mainly the gable end)
  • Tyvek Weather wrap

Of course there’s lots of little things to do as part of those steps, but those are the big ones.

If it was easy, Everybody would do it
~Harry

While it wasn’t much of a vacation for a week off… it was still enjoyable to be around some family and it made me overjoyed Rachel and Delilah were able to come up with us and be around during those ‘off’ times while we were taking a bit of a break from the beating (building) so I could hold the little one.� Oh, and a huge thanks goes out to Rachel for all the delicious meals during the week.

The place is gonna be totally unrecognizable when we get done, but it’s sure gonna be nice.� A great place for Debug to grow up.� I’m looking forward to watching her play in the stream from the new living area.

Some other photos from the process:

What's in a Name?

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Zemanta Related Posts ThumbnailApparently people don’t like when you leave them hanging. Everybody wants to know what the meaning is behind Delilah’s name. Sort of funny given that it’s not that dramatic of a meaning but it’s still fun and makes for a good story.

There’s actually a few meanings:

  1. We sort of had a theme song for our honeymoon in Hawaii. Literally every time we got in the car we’d hear Hey there Delilah by the Plain White T’s and we even used it in one of our Honeymoon slideshows. Delilah isn’t named after the song, but her name is inspired by it. We were thinking up names when we heard the song and both fell in love.
  2. The lilac bush we planted a week after we bought our old house (on Roselawn ave) never flowered until this spring. We were even ready to tear it out this year if it didn’t. A shortened version of Delilah is Lila which can be translated to Lilac in several languages. Kinda cool right?
  3. Along the same lines as the Lilac bush but not as cool… she was born during the Lilac Festival so now she has a Festival every year just for her.

And what everyone’s been waiting for… Some more pictures from Little Lila’s first few days of life: